Part of the Disease
by Victoria18Carlton
Summary: (Part 3 of the 'Allie Swallow' series) Things are finally going right for Allie Swallow. Her parents are gone, her boyfriend's ex is gone, and she's adjusting well to her genetic engineering. But Allie is about to learn that nothing goes right for very long... (Chekov/OC)
1. Chapter 1

_ It's completely dark. Pitch black, in fact. Yet, despite the darkness I know that I am standing in the centre of the room. Where or what this room is I don't know. I don't think I've been here before but the room has a familiar feel to it. Maybe I have been here before. Then I hear his voice, the voice that is always here in this room, this room that I've never been in before, even though I know I'm always trapped in it. It seems like his voice is inside my head, but I can sense him standing next to me. He doesn't touch me, just talks. I haven't listened to him for a while but now I begin to. "You will never be alone as long as I am here. You can always turn to me for help." The deep, baritone voice with the same English accent as me finishes speaking, and I consider his words. These words he speaks are new, something he has never said before._

_ I spend so long thinking about what he told me that it takes me a while to notice the figures all around me, around us, approaching out of the dark. They're closing in, slowly at first but speeding up as they get nearer. He has touched me now, his hands on my arms, as if he's trying to move me to a safer place. But they are in a tight circle around us, there is no safer place, and so he puts his lips to my ear and whispers, "I'm sorry." Then the figures finally lunge at us and I scream. My scream is the last thing I hear._

Allie Swallow woke up with a jolt. She clamped her hand to her mouth to stop herself from crying out in the darkness. When her breathing rate had returned to almost normal and the panic had mostly faded she took her hand away and turned onto her side. Pavel was lying next to her as always, still fast asleep. That was good; she hadn't woken him up this time. She rolled over onto her other side to see what time it was. The digital clock built into the wall showed 03:58 in blue numbers. Almost four in the morning. She fell back and lay flat, hoping to go back to sleep. Three hours later she was still trying. The alarm sounded and she quickly shut it off. Then she resumed her former position on her back and looked at the ceiling. She felt Pavel stir beside her. "Hey. Are you avake?"  
"Yeah."  
He sat up slightly and looked at her. "How long hev you been avake?"  
"Honestly? Since about four o'clock this morning."  
He sighed. "Did you hev ze dream again?"  
"It never changes, it has been the exact same dream since I started having it, so why did it change this time?"  
"Vait, it changed?" Pavel sat up fully. "Vat changed?"  
Allie stayed lying down, and she looked up at him and replied, "I listened to what he said this time. Normally his voice is just background noise, but this time I could actually register what he said."  
"And vat did he say?" Pavel asked, genuine concern and a little bit of panic showed in his face.  
"Some rubbish about how I can turn to him if I ever need help."  
Pavel snorted. "I zink he's 'helped' you enough."  
Allie nodded in agreement. "We'd better get up. Don't want to be late for our shift."  
Pavel smiled. "Again."

"Sir, we've just received a message from a Commander Sloan, something to do with a ship wide security check," said Lieutenant Uhura to Captain Kirk, who sat slumped in the Captain's chair. It had been a long and boring day.  
"Who? I've never heard of him."  
"He's part of Starfleet Intelligence," replied Uhura.  
"Oh perfect. That's just what we need, a visit from Starfleet Intelligence to liven up the day. Reply and say we're awaiting his arrival."  
"Actually, sir, he's in the transporter room right now."  
"What?!" Kirk sat bolt upright. "He can't just do that, Spock, transporter room, with me."  
"I believe you may have forgotten some verbs, Captain," responded Spock as he crossed to the turbo lift.  
"Don't get sassy with me, Spock."  
Spock raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.  
They made their way to the relevant transporter room. They were met by Mr. Scott and a severe looking man dressed in a grey Starfleet uniform. He stood with his hands folded behind his back. "Captain Kirk, I presume," he said in a deep, authoritative voice. His American accent bore no trace of a region. Everything about him screamed official.  
"Commander Sloan," Kirk replied. "I presume," he added, a slight hint of sarcasm and mockery in his tone. The commander didn't notice it, or chose to ignore it. He merely nodded. "Your message said that you needed to perform a security check on the whole ship, but we've had a check fairly recently, sir." Despite the man technically having a lower rank than Kirk, he assumed that Sloan would respond well to a show of respect.  
"I am aware of that, Captain, but we are executing this security sweep on all of the ships in the fleet. Orders from Starfleet Intelligence."  
"Well," said Kirk, "Who am I to get in the way of Starfleet Intelligence?"  
"We will need to begin by conducting interviews with each of your bridge officers. Following this we will talk to the rest of your crew, I'm sure you have nothing to worry about," Sloan instructed, something barely resembling a smile making an appearance on his face.


	2. Chapter 2

Allie waited outside the ready room for her interview. It was currently occupied by Commander Sloan, another Starfleet Intelligence officer, presumably some sort of guard, and Pavel. The door opened and Pavel walked out. "How was it? What did they ask?"  
"It vas fine. All zey vanted to know vas if I feel safe on ze _Enterprise_, if I have noticed anyzing strange, vat I zink could be done to improve security. It all seemed pretty routine to me," he replied.  
"What was he like? Sloan, I mean."  
"Scary," Pavel admitted quietly. "He didn't do anyzing to make him scary, he just vas."  
"How do you mean?"  
"His demeanour, I suppose. He's wery intimidating. Oh, by ze vay, I forgot to give you zis." He held out a little box, slightly smaller than a communicator. It had a small ribbon tied around it.  
"Aw, Pav. I thought you'd forgotten!"  
"I wouldn't forget your birthday, Allie. Okay, I forgot zis morning, but I got distracted vith your dream and being late and everything," he admitted.  
"That's okay, I thought you'd forget completely," Allie said, laughing.  
"Go on," Pavel urged. "Open it."  
Allie pulled the ribbon off of the box, and lifted the lid. Inside was a thin silver necklace. Hanging on the chain was a sparkling green gem. "Pavel, it's beautiful," Allie said, her breath taken away from her.  
Pavel smiled happily. "It's an Alexandrite. They used to be really rare and was first found in Russia, and it changes colour in different lights."  
"I love it, Pavel. It's absolutely gorgeous. Put it on me!" He took the box from her and she turned around. He smoothed her hair and gently pushed it over her shoulder. Then he fastened the chain around her neck. She turned back to him, the Alexandrite glittering. "It matches your eyes perfectly."  
"Don't sound so cliché," she reprimanded him playfully. "Does it really?"  
He kissed her lightly and said, "да."  
The Starfleet Intelligence officer stepped through the door. "Miss Swallow? Commander Sloan is ready for you."  
"Good luck," said Pavel with a smile.  
"What do you mean by that?" the officer asked immediately, rounding on Pavel.  
"I vas just making a little joke, sir," Pavel replied plainly.  
"Extremely little, lieutenant," he replied, with some menace in his voice. He then moved back through the door, motioning for Allie to follow him. She looked at Pavel and shrugged her shoulders, then stepped into the ready room after the officer.

In front of Allie was a man who she assumed was Commander Sloan, seated behind a desk. He pointed to a chair opposite him, which she sat in. "I am Commander Samuel Sloan. Before we begin, you are to understand that everything said in this interview is not to be repeated to anybody else."  
"Yes, sir," said Allie. Pavel had clearly missed that instruction. "What do you need to know?"  
"We'll ask the questions here, Lieutenant," Sloan said briskly.  
"Of course," Allie replied warily, "Sorry, sir."  
"Let's get started. How have you been feeling since the incident with Khan Noonien Singh last year?  
"Umm… fine?"  
"Is that an answer or a question?"  
"An answer. I'm fine, sir," she said. She hadn't expected questions on this subject, but she supposed it wasn't that unusual. "Still a little shook-up from being, well, near him, but I'm fine."  
"And how are you coping with your genetic engineering?"  
"Okay, I – " She stopped. "Wait, what?"  
Sloan smiled maliciously. "You seem surprised to be asked that. Perhaps because it isn't mentioned in any official records?"  
"I really don't know what you're talking about," bluffed Allie. Not well enough.  
"Captain Kirk talked about it in his personal log."  
"Starfleet aren't supposed to be able to see those unless it's an emergency."  
"Maybe this is an emergency."  
"What do you mean?"  
"Genetic engineering is a crime, Miss Swallow," responded Sloan. "Especially when it is concealed from us."  
"You're joking, right?" Allie asked, her eyebrows raised.  
"I never joke, Miss Swallow. This is a very serious issue."  
Allie took a close look at Commander Sloan. His demeanour didn't suggest Starfleet Intelligence to her. It suggested something much more dangerous. Her eyes narrowed. "You're not Starfleet Intelligence, are you?"  
"Very astute, Lieutenant," Sloan replied. "I see Captain Kirk hasn't understated your intelligence."  
"Flattery will get you nowhere."  
"That wasn't a compliment." They glared at each other for a minute. Then Sloan finally answered her question. "Have you ever heard of Section 31?"

Allie shot up from her seat. "Section 31?"  
"You know about us then?"  
"I most certainly do. I also know that you're not supposed to exist, and therefore, you can't be here. Goodbye," she added as she turned to leave. The officer acting as a guard stepped into her path. "I really wouldn't," she said quietly, threateningly. She was getting angry now. Angry and frightened. And she knew that that wasn't a good mix.  
"I should warn you, Miss Swallow," Sloan interrupted, "Any action you take that involves your engineered strength will be added to the charges against you."  
Allie whirled around. "Charges? I've actually been charged with something?"  
"Your engineering was illegal."  
"But I didn't choose it. Someone else did it to me."  
"Someone who was also engineered."  
"That doesn't mean anything!"  
Sloan moved around the desk and advanced on her. "I'm afraid it does to us, Miss Swallow. Therefore, under the authority of Section 31, I am taking you into custody."  
"Well, let's see what the Captain thinks about that," said Allie, before she ducked under the arms of the guard and ran from the room.


	3. Chapter 3

Allie burst out of the ready room door and ran straight for the turbo lift, grabbing the hand of a very surprised Pavel on the way. "Allie? Vat's going on?"  
"No time now, explain later," she replied. Realising that Pavel couldn't run as fast as she could, she slowed her pace slightly, although it felt like they were moving considerably more sluggishly. They reached the turbo lift, and as they entered it Allie glanced behind her. Sloan and his guard were on their heels, still a way back, but catching up fast. She hit the button for the bridge and the lift began to rise.  
"Vould you like to tell me vat's heppening now?" Pavel asked her. Before she could reply the lift jammed to a halt, throwing the two of them against the wall. Then it began moving down again, back towards Sloan. He and the other officer must be tampering with the turbo lift's operations. Allie quickly leapt across to the controls and thumbed the _Emergency Stop_ button. The lift stopped again. "Allie?!" Pavel cried. "Vat on Earth is happening? Who are zose people?"  
"Basically, they're Section 31 operatives and they want to arrest me for being an illegal genetic mutation."  
"VAT?! Zey vant to arrest you?"  
"Pretty much." The lift began to descend for a second time. Allie hit the _Stop_ button again. "Every time the lift begins moving, press that button," she said to Pavel. "We need another way to the bridge." Pavel took her place beside the control panel and Allie scanned the lift for an exit. There was no way for them to override Sloan's control in the time they had, other than pressing the stop button each time they moved. She looked up at the ceiling of the turbo lift. There was an emergency escape hatch directly above her. "Is there anything that would open the hatch on that panel?" she asked Pavel. The lift jerked again as Sloan and Pavel fought for control over it.  
"Yes, zere is somezing here." He pointed at a button located next to the _Emergency Stop_. "You need a code to release it."  
"Oh, well that's just perfect, isn't it?" Allie's voice overflowed with sarcasm. "Wonderful planning there, Starfleet. It's an emergency and we need to escape, but instead we have to waste time finding a release code."  
"Vhy don't ve just ask ze Keptin?" Pavel suggested. "Ve can contact ze bridge from in here."  
"That'll work." Pavel stayed by the turbo lift controls while Allie crossed to a communications panel on the opposite wall. "Lieutenant Swallow to Captain Kirk."  
_"Kirk here. What's the problem, Lieutenant?" _Jim's voice was a very welcome sound.  
"I'll explain everything in person in a minute, but for now, Pavel and I are trapped in a turbo lift on the way to the bridge to see you. We need the release code for the emergency hatch."  
"_How the hell did you get trapped in a turbo lift?" _was the response.  
"I promise you a full explanation later, but we really need that code, Captain." The lift shuddered yet again.  
"_I can just send an engineer to fix it – "  
_"JIM!"  
"_Okay, okay, hang on a second." _Allie and Pavel waited not all that patiently. The lift tried to descend another three times before Jim gave them the codes. Pavel typed it into the small panel next to the release button, and then pressed it. The hatch fell open above them.

"You go first," Pavel said to Allie.  
"Are you sure?"  
"Yes, someone needs to stay by the button for as long as possible, and I'm not sure I can jump up there, you'll have to pull me up." Allie nodded. She took a running jump and grabbed a hold of the hatch's edge. She hauled herself up and onto the roof of the turbo lift. She then leant back over the side of the hatch and clutched Pavel's hands as he jumped. She pulled upwards and, between the two of them, Pavel clambered onto the roof and sat beside her. "Vow, you really are strong." She laughed, and they both stood up. There was a ladder on the wall facing them, and so they both crossed to it. Pavel gestured for Allie to go before him, which she did, reluctantly. They climbed for five or ten minutes before they reached the turbo lift doors that lead to the bridge. Luckily, no-one else had tried to send the lift up to the bridge. "Ve have anozer problem. How do ve open ze doors?" Pavel called up to Allie.  
"The old fashioned way. We knock." Allie knocked on the doors several times, hoping someone would be able to hear them over the volume of the bridge. Luck was on their side again. The doors slid open and Allie reached up and scrambled over the side, Jim helping her. Pavel followed her, and both of them stood in front of the lift doors, the eyes of the entire bridge crew on them. "Permission to come on the bridge?"  
"Can we have an explanation now?" asked Jim with a smile.  
Allie was about to answer when the turbo lift doors opened again. She and Pavel stepped away from them. They both turned to see Sloan stepping out from them. A horrible smirk was on his face. "Yes, I think you're entitled to that, Captain."


	4. Chapter 4

"You need my permission to come on my bridge, Commander Sloan," said Captain Kirk with a very forced and fake smile.  
"Actually it's Agent Sloan, Captain, and I don't need your permission."  
"Agent Sloan?"  
"Yes, of Section 31. Did Miss Swallow not get around to telling you that?"  
Kirk looked at Allie. "I thought it was too important to discuss over the comm systems." She glared at Sloan. "Especially when we were a bit busy trying to get away from him."  
"Another offence we can add to your list of charges."  
"Whoa, wait a minute, what charges? What the hell does Section 31 want? Haven't they caused enough trouble before?" asked Kirk.  
"You might as well let him explain," said Allie. "He's just dying to."  
"How kind of you." Sloan faced Jim, seemingly unaware of everyone watching him. Unaware or uncaring. "I'm sure you are aware that genetic engineering is illegal under Federation Law, Captain. I assume that's why you neglected to mention everything that happened to Miss Swallow during your last incident with Khan in your report. You'll be pleased to know that I am willing to forget your breach of regulations, as well as your First Officer and Chief Medical Officer's."  
"How do you even know about what happened?"  
"Your personal log," answered Sloan. "Don't look so offended, Captain. We have access to everything, although personal logs are more difficult to get our hands on."  
"What interest does Section 31 have in this case anyway?" asked Kirk. "Surely a regulation breach is a matter for Starfleet Command, Starfleet Intelligence at the most."  
"Ah, well that's where the matter of Miss Swallow's genetic enhancement comes in."  
"But she didn't do anything. Khan did it to her, she didn't choose it."  
Sloan looked at Allie and smiled. "I'm getting a strange sense of déjà vu, aren't you?"  
She didn't reply, just continued to glare at him. It occurred to Kirk that Chekov had kept strangely quiet during all of this. He glanced at him. The rage and injustice that he clearly felt showed on his face. 'He must be keeping quiet for fear that he'll make it worse,' thought Kirk. He stared Sloan straight in the eye. He was prepared to fight for this. "You can't just arrest a member of my crew for something that they didn't do," Kirk said.  
"I'm afraid I can, Captain," retorted Sloan. "And, technically, I'm not arresting her. I am merely taking her back to Section 31 for… safe-keeping. We want to know more about her engineering and her abilities, and we feel it is in everyone's best interests if – "  
Kirk interrupted him. "And what if she refuses?"  
"She doesn't have that option."  
"What if I refuse?"  
"You don't have that option either. But, as I said before, I will be happy not to mention your deliberate omissions in your reports. I'm not sure you can afford another blemish on your record, Captain. That particular issue can go away, providing that Miss Swallow returns to Earth with me."

"I'd like to remind you," said Allie, "I am still here. I can hear everything you're saying, there's no need to speak as if I'm somewhere else."  
Sloan smiled at her again. "Your Captain was doing it too, yet I see you're not angry at him."  
"He's my Captain, and so he can talk like that if he wants to. You, on the other hand – "  
"Such disrespect towards an authority figure. You should have taught her to respect her elders," he said to Kirk.  
"Hell, I'm on her side."  
"Captain," Mr Spock had now joined the discussion. "Might I suggest that this conversation may be better discussed somewhere more private?"  
"Thank you, Mr Spock, but I think the more witnesses to this, the better."  
"May I remind all of you," said Sloan to the whole bridge, "Everything you hear and have heard is completely confidential. Any word to any outside parties will result in expulsion from the service."  
Kirk scowled at him. "You can't do that."  
"We are not bound by the same regulations and laws that you are, Captain Kirk. So, yes, I can do that."

"Vat's going to heppen to Allie if she agrees to come vith you?" Pavel had finally spoken.  
"And you are?" asked Sloan.  
"Lieutenant Pavel Chekov. Ve spoke earlier, before you interrogated Allie."  
"Clearly you didn't make much of an impression."  
"Neither did you."  
Sloan laughed. It was a horse, throaty sound. It matched his personality perfectly. "Another crewmember with very little respect. I think you need to focus on discipline, Captain."  
"Answer his question," was all Jim said. Allie looked between the three men, all of them locked in a verbal combat. She could see that this was not going to end well. For any of them.  
"Section 31 has an interest in finding out the limits of Miss Swallow's abilities. We want to know how far she can be pushed, how they can be used to benefit Starfleet and the Federation."  
"So, basically, you want to experiment on me."  
"If you want to put it into technical terms, then yes. I suppose we do."  
"Vell, ve're not going to let you do zat." Pavel stepped back and took Allie's hand.  
"How sweet," replied Sloan. "But I'm afraid that you'll have to if you want to stay in Starfleet." He turned to Kirk. "That goes for you too."  
"I'll risk zat," said Pavel without a moment's hesitation.  
Allie stepped forwards before Sloan could reply. "No, you won't," she said. "No-one's risking their career for me."  
"But, Allie – " Pavel tried to speak.  
"No." She went back to him and spoke quietly, so only he could hear her. "Starfleet is your dream. What you've always wanted and worked for. You're not losing all of that because of me. It's not fair."  
"But this isn't fair on you."  
She closed the small distance between them, both of them now oblivious to everyone's eyes, and put her hands on his face. "This is my decision, and I know what I'm doing. Please, you have to let me do this."  
"But, but how can I just let you go?"  
"You have to." She kissed him gently. Then she was pulled backwards, away from Pavel. She turned to see the Section 31 officer's hand on her arm. "Let go of me," she said slowly. The officer practically leapt away from her. He was frightened of her, he was actually frightened.

"Could you hold your arms out please, Miss Swallow?" said Sloan. It was an instruction, not a request.  
"You're not cuffing her," said Jim. Sloan turned to him "If you're not arresting her, you don't need to cuff her."  
"It's just a precaution, Captain."  
"I don't care."  
"No, Jim, it's okay."  
"Jim?" Sloan said with another smirk. "On first name terms, are we? You're friendly." Jim, Allie and Pavel all glowered at him. Allie held her arms out and the officer fastened a pair of silver handcuffs around her wrists. He was still wary of her. "Captain, would you care to accompany us to the transporter room?"  
"Yes, as will Mr Chekov." Sloan and the officer each took one of Allie's arms in order to restrain her, but the look of complete and utter venom that Jim and Pavel gave them was enough to convince them to let her walk freely. The five of them walked to the turbo lift.  
As it descended Sloan said, "This is much easier than climbing up the turbo lift shaft, isn't it?" Neither Chekov nor Allie answered him. They all exited the lift and made their way to the transporter room in silence. When they got there Scotty looked stunned to see Allie in irons.  
"Captain, what's going on?"  
Jim had no chance to answer him before Sloan turned to Allie and said, "If you ask nicely, I might let you say a proper goodbye."  
She sighed and muttered, "Please may I say goodbye?"  
He smiled, a pretence of kindness, and said, "Yes, you may. We will wait on the transporter pad."  
"Can't I do this with a bit of privacy? Please?"  
"No. Can't have you coming up with any escape plans, can we?" Sloan and the officer retired to the transporter pad, leaving Allie, Jim and Pavel together.  
"We'll get you out of this somehow," Kirk said to her, his voice low enough that Sloan shouldn't have been able to hear.  
"Vat he's doing can't be legal, regardless of Section 31's different regulations," added Pavel as he took her hands as best he could. "He can't do this to you."  
"Apparently he can, at least he can right now."  
"I'm sorry."  
"How many times do we have to go through this? Not everything that happens is your fault."  
"I'm still sorry." He pressed his lips lightly to hers, the Alexandrite sparkling around her neck. "I still zink it matches your eyes."  
She smiled. "It's been a bit of an eventful birthday, hasn't it?"  
"It's your birthday?" piped up Jim. She nodded.  
"Miss Swallow? We're waiting." Sloan's voice cut through the group like a knife.  
"Just a minute." She looked at Pavel, fighting the sorrow and sense of hopelessness that she felt; she was not going to cry in front of Sloan.  
"Ve'll get you out of this," Pavel said, echoing Jim's earlier words. Then he stroked her hair back from her face and kissed her. They stayed together for a few moments, until Sloan's voice forced them apart. Allie walked onto the pad, stood apart from Sloan and his officer.  
Sloan waited for her to get into position. "Energise, Mr Scott."  
Scotty looked at Jim for approval, who reluctantly nodded. Allie kept her eyes on Pavel until the transporter beam took her, and he faded out of sight.


	5. Chapter 5

**_One month later_**

"Come on, Miss Swallow, it's that time of day again." Sloan's voice drifted through the door of Allie's cell. Well, technically, it was her room, but it might as well have been a cell.  
"Please, not today. I'm too tired," was her response.  
"Tied? Oh, dear, Miss Swallow. I thought you didn't get tired." Allie could hear the glee in his voice.  
"I do if I'm being worked hard constantly without any rest."  
"You are getting rest. Are you still having nightmares?"  
"That's none of your business." She didn't want to talk to him. She never wanted to talk to any of these people.  
"Do we really need to have this conversation again? Anything that happens to you is, in fact, my business."  
She groaned in frustration and sat up, swinging her feet over the bed. All of her joints ached. Each day was the same; he spent all day being experimented on by Sloan and his lackies, and spent most nights swapping between nightmares and lying awake. She missed all her friends so much, she hadn't had a normal conversation in a month, and hadn't laughed or smiled for just as long. She missed Pavel even more. She hurriedly got dressed, trying not to think about Pavel. It was still cold. It was always cold there. Section 31 was housed in an old, twenty first century building, and it was very drafty in there. Allie pulled on a pair of plain black trousers and a matching black shirt. Section 31 didn't really have much inspiration when it came to their uniforms. When she was dressed she gathered her hair up into a tight ponytail, and then slipped into some flat black boots. It disconcerted her that someone came into her room every night to give her fresh clothes. They always seemed to be under the impression that she was asleep, but she couldn't remember the last time she hadn't been awake to see them come in. She exited the room when she heard Sloan unlock the door. "You know, it's not like I can actually get out of the building, you don't need to lock me in here," she said to him.  
"You haven't proven that we can trust you yet." She rolled her eyes, not bothering to respond. He took her to the usual laboratory.  
"What am I being subjected to today?"  
"You could try being a little more open to what we are doing here. We are trying to help the Federation, after all."  
"I don't see how any of what we've done will benefit anybody. All you have done is tried to establish my limits, my weaknesses, not my strengths. I seriously think you're looking for a way to kill me." Sloan laughed, but under the laugh there was something more sinister. Allie ignored it for now, there was nothing she could do but go along with the experiments.

When the entered the laboratory they found a young man inside, working on a large metal tube. "Doctor Carlos," said Sloan, his voice a mix of surprise and annoyance, "I thought you were working in the hanger today."  
"That was the plan, sir," replied Carlos. "But there's some work being done on the security system, so I was moved here."  
"It would be nice if someone had told me," Sloan muttered. Doctor Carlos pretended not to hear him, but the fear in his eyes showed that he had.  
"What's in the hanger?" asked Allie, although she didn't expect an answer. She didn't get one. Sloan ignored her.  
"We need blood samples from you.  
"More?!"  
"Yes. Doctor Carlos." The man looked up from the tube. Allie had seen a tube like that before, she was sure she had. But it was empty, so there were no clues there. "If you insist on being here you can at least be useful to me. Take four different samples of blood from Miss Swallow."  
"Um, I didn't ask to be here, sir. And I'm not that sort of doctor – "  
"Do I care? No. I'll be back in thirty minutes." He looked at Allie. "Thankfully you are not the only thing I have to deal with around here." With that, he turned and left the room.  
Allie sat on the counter opposite Doctor Carlos. "The only 'thing' he has to deal with. That's nice, isn't it? I can see why he's so popular around here."  
Carlos laughed, only slightly, but enough to lighten the atmosphere a little. Allie wanted to know what was in the hanger that Sloan didn't want her to know about. She looked at the tube while Carlos prepared a hypo spray. She studied it carefully, looking over each section of it. It was only when she the mechanism inside it that she realised what it was. It was a cryotube. One of Khan's cryotubes, it had to be. He eyes widened when she figured it out, but she fought to look normal when Carlos turned back to her. "This should stop any pain or bruising," he said. His voice was quiet and kind, the first pleasant person she had encountered since she left the _Enterprise.  
_"Thanks. It never bruises anyway."  
"No, I suppose it wouldn't." Carlos took the first sample and then moved to the desk to label and file it. Allie thought about the cryotube. It was perfectly plausible that the hanger contained the other ones. The ones with living occupants. If she could release just one of them, convince them to help her, she might be able to get out. She pushed the thought out of her mind. Despite what Sloan said, she wasn't a criminal. But she wanted to leave so badly, surely she couldn't be condemned for escaping from a place where she was unjustly held. Could she? She suddenly remembered the dream she'd last had on her birthday (the dreams had changed since then). He had told her that she could come to him for help. And now she needed help.

"I can't believe they've actually taken down the security system in that hanger," said Carlos when he came back over to her for the second sample. "I know it's only for today, but it still seems unwise." He clearly didn't know that she wasn't supposed to know what was in the hanger. Allie thought about what he'd said. The security system had been disabled. It was practically an invitation.  
"Doctor Carlos?"  
"Yes?"  
"I know it's cheeky of me to ask, but would it be possible for me to see the tubes in the hanger?"  
"Oh, I don't think so, sorry."  
"But I think an old friend of mine might be in one of them," she lied. "I just want to check if it's him, and see if he's okay." She looked into his eyes, willing herself to cry. He was nice, he'd probably respond to that.  
"I suppose I could check for you."  
'Damn,' though Allie, 'That won't help.'  
"No, I haven't got time, sorry."  
A tear rolled down Allie's cheek. "Please? It's just I'm so lonely here and I just want to make sure he's alright, it would be nice to know there's someone I know here." A few more tears spilled over. Carlos looked at her, and saw her crying.  
"Oh, don't cry. Please." He pulled out a white piece of plastic. "This is my access card. If you go now, before Sloan comes back the hanger should be empty, it's shift switchover now." She smiled at him, a few tears still falling. "You'll only have a few minutes, ten at the most, so be quick, and come straight back here afterwards." She took the card and hopped off of the counter.  
"Thank you," she said. Before she left she reached up and kissed his cheek. He blushed lightly. When she was outside the laboratory and on her way to the hanger she whispered to herself, "That was easy."


	6. Chapter 6

Allie met no Section 31 personnel on the way to the hanger, it was only two decks down from the laboratory, and shift switchover usual meant empty corridors anyway. On reaching the hanger she swiped Doctor Carlos' access card. The reader beeped politely and the door opened. The hanger wasn't all that large; it couldn't have been more than forty square feet. Inside were nineteen metal tubes, each about two metres long. She moved between the tubes, looking for the right one. "This is a bad idea," she whispered as she searched. "This is a really bad idea. In fact, this is a terrible idea." But it was the only idea she had, so she kept looking. It didn't take her long to find the right tube. She curled a hand around the necklace with the Alexandrite on it. She didn't really know why, for emotional support or something like that. Taking a deep breath, and then activated the regeneration cycle. She was surprised that no alarms went off, unless they had been disabled along with the room's security. Allie moved to the end of the tube as the man inside began to wake up, she didn't think he'd take kindly to seeing her again and she wasn't going to let him kill her before she'd tried to convince him to help her. It took all of twenty seconds for him to awake. Khan Noonien Singh sat up in the tube and looked at Allie.  
"What are you doing?" were the first words out of his mouth.  
"I need your help."  
"You need my help? Well, this is a role reversal. How did you even get in here?"  
"Thanks to you I'm being held here as an illegal genetic mutation."  
"So you have been arrested?"  
"More or less."  
Khan swiftly climbed out of the cryotube. "And I assume you need my help to get out of here." She nodded. "And what do I get in return?" Ah. She hadn't thought of that. After she took too long to respond he said, "Surely you didn't expect something for nothing – that's not how it works."  
"You get your freedom," she tried.  
"Not good enough." They stared at each other across the cryotube.  
"I'm not releasing the others if that's what you're getting at," Allie said. "There's nothing to stop you from doing that yourself; I don't need to help."  
"And yet you released me. A danger to society who has hurt you and the other people you love before."  
"You paint yourself in such a wonderful light."  
"Why come to me? Why not go to others who might be more… appealing?" He had moved closer to her now but she stayed where she was.  
"Because… because…" She didn't want to tell him about her dream. "Because I thought that you might actually listen to me. I thought that you might understand and want to help me."  
Khan considered what she had said, and after a moment or two of thought he said, "I will help you, but you have to help me in return. You have to help me free my crew."  
"Why are you so obsessed with retrieving your crew?" she snapped.  
He paused and looked at her for a minute. She could see the pain in his eyes. "Is there anything you would not do for your family? You are the same as these people. You are a part of this family," he said quietly. Gently. Allie felt sorry for him, just as she had when she had inadvertently released him from the brig, a time that felt so long ago. He really was prepared to help her if she helped him in return. And maybe he was right. Maybe these people were her family.  
"Alright. I will help you, but on one condition. You cannot kill anyone."  
He smiled. "Unless absolutely necessary."  
"… Fine," she replied. "And one more thing," she added, "If you try to kiss me again, or come too close to me, I will punch you so hard that there'll be a dent in your cheekbones."

"We need to leave here now," said Allie. "We only had ten minutes and the next shift will be here any minute."  
Khan nodded and started for the door. "We'll get them out later," he gestured towards the other cryotubes, "Where is the nearest secure room?"  
"I have no idea," Allie replied. "I don't know the layout of the building very well, just the main areas where they've been testing me."  
"They've been testing you?" She nodded. "Experimenting on you?" She nodded a second time. He sounded angry. "You would have thought that they'd have learnt all that they needed already."  
"They did this to you as well?"  
He hesitated before answering. "Yes." There was another pause, but then he asked, "Who is in command of Section 31 now? Who replaced Marcus?"  
"One Commander Samuel Sloan." Khan grimaced. "You know him then?"  
"All too well. Samuel Sloan was responsible for the majority of the experiments that I was subjected to. He devised them, carried them out and," The next bit seemed difficult for him to say, "Punished me if he was not happy with the results."  
She didn't really know what to say, but she settled on a simple, "I'm sorry." He smiled softly at her in acknowledgement.  
They continued along the hallway at a fast walk until Khan gently pulled Allie into a side room. "If the layout of the building has not changed since I was last here," he explained, "This is a rarely checked or used storage space. We can wait here until nightfall and the building is emptier."  
"You can, but I'll be missed. Anyway, if they check your cryotube they'll find you missing and the whole place will be locked down."  
He smirked. "Apparently my mental faculties haven't quite finished waking up yet; I hadn't considered that. We will have to act now, in that case."  
"By now the hanger will be guarded again, and Sloan will probably be looking for me. We have to move now – do you know a safe way out?" Allie asked.  
"Yes, but I am not leaving here without my crew, not again."  
"Khan, we have to go, we'll be caught any minute – "

Before Allie could say the word 'now' the door to the storage room slid open to reveal Sloan standing behind it. He had his usual smile on his face, but now there was no humour in his eyes. It was replaced by a deep rage that burned like fire in his stare as he saw Khan and Allie before him. She had never really been all that afraid of him before, but seeing him stood before her with murder written on his face, it was impossible not to be scared. Beside her, Khan had tensed up the second he had laid eyes on Sloan. "Am I interrupting something?" Sloan asked, his voice dripping with contempt. Neither Allie nor Khan gave him a response. Allie could sense that underneath Khan's composed (if tense) exterior there lurked a deep and heightened fear of the man who had forced him to endure many a cruel experiment. Allie contemplated taking his hand to calm him, but she decided against it. She didn't want him to put her in an even more compromising position. If one existed. Instead she stood still, waiting for Sloan to speak again. "Did you give her you access card?" Sloan directed at a figure in a white coat, who Allie recognised as Doctor Carlos.  
"Um," the man was absolutely petrified, "Yes, but I thought, she said – " He was not given a chance to explain.  
"Kill him," said Sloan.  
"No, don't!" cried Allie, but it was too late. One of the guards fired his phaser rifle and Doctor Carlos' form slumped to the floor, completely lifeless. "You didn't have to kill him," she managed to stammer, so horrified at the death she had caused that she could barely speak. Sloan didn't respond to her, partly because he didn't care about Carlos' death, but mostly because the second Allie finished speaking Khan bolted towards the door, grabbing Allie's arm and pulling her behind him. They took the guards by surprised and started down the corridor. They had barely cleared one hundred metres before Khan fell top the ground as the sound of a phaser came from behind them. He was conscious for about thirty seconds, but he was incredibly weak. He managed to roll himself onto his back before he gave out, and his eyes close. "What did you do to him?" Allie demanded as her only hope for escape lay before her. He eyes were on Sloan; he held the responsible phaser.  
"This is just something I had whipped up in case he ever escaped again," he said as he advanced on her. "Did you think we would be unprepared?" He raised the phaser again.  
"Wait, please," she said. Her plea was useless. Sloan fired and Allie crumpled. She landed next to Khan, with her head on his chest. He was warm and she could feel his strong heartbeat. It was mere seconds before she succumbed to the darkness.


	7. Chapter 7

A dank, grey room swam into focus around Allie. She was lying on her side in a plain cinderblock room – she had evidently been dumped in there carelessly, judging from the way she was lying. There was nothing in the room but her and a steel-framed bed. She was in a cell now. A real cell. On the far wall there was a single door on the right hand side. She didn't even bother trying to open it, she knew it would be locked. Instead she called out, "Khan?" just hoping that the walls of the cell were not too thick, hoping that he was in the adjacent cell, hoping that he could hear her.  
"You're awake. Good." His voice drifted through the wall. "Do you know where you are?"  
"In some kind of cell, I think. But where the cell is, I have no idea."  
"If I am correct – "  
"Which you usually are."  
He ignored her, which seemed to be happening a lot lately. "If I am correct we are in the deepest basement of the Section 31 building."  
"Great, this is a place I always wanted to visit," she replied.  
"Sarcasm won't help you."  
"It's funny though. How long have you been awake?"  
"For approximately three hours." Allie was puzzled. Why did the shot have more of an effect on her? "I expect you're wondering why it didn't affect me as much as it did you. The answer is simple; I designed you to be weaker than I am. It seemed illogical to create someone who was equal to or stronger than me when they were unlikely to take kindly to it."  
Allie considered what he had said. "So, if I was designed to be weaker than you, how come I was able to beat you when we fought?"  
His reply came instantly. "Because you had not yet adapted to your new strength, you did not know how to control yourself. You wouldn't be able to beat me now."  
"What about my head? My mind? Is that weaker than yours as well?"  
This time there was a pause before he spoke. "I am not sure. I expect so. I hadn't considered that."  
"I thought you considered everything," she said with a small smile.  
"Not all of the time."

They didn't speak again for over half an hour, so it surprised Allie when Khan's voice came through the walls again. "Can you see a square hole in the top left hand corner of the wall?" he asked. "It will be roughly eighty centimetres by thirty centimetres."  
Allie scanned the walls of her cell. Sure enough, she saw what Khan had described. "Yes, I can see it. What is it?"  
"It is an air vent. This building is of twentieth century design, and has larger airvents than other, more modern buildings. I can't fit through it, but you can."  
"You're joking, right? I can't climb through the air vent! For a start, it has a grating on it."  
"You will easily be able to remove that."  
"But won't they just close off the vents?" Allie protested. "Surely they're monitoring us."  
"I would think it seriously unlikely," responded Khan. "These cells are part of the original building. Last time I was in here there was no security of any sort. They kept me in here to determine how long I could l survive without provisions." He sounded pained and angry again.  
"But what if we were to die in here? They couldn't do anything to stop it."  
"Do you think that Sloan cares if we die?" Khan asked her, bitterly.  
"I suppose not," she said after a pause. She ran and jumped up at the grate. Pushing off of the wall she landed on her feet with the grate in her hands. She threw it aside and took another running jump. She grabbed onto the edge of the vent and scrambled through it.  
"Have you done it? Can you still hear me?" Khan's voice drifted into the air vent, somewhat muffled through the walls.  
"Yes, and just about."  
"Good. If you go to your right you will soon come across another grate. Exit through this and you will be outside both cells. You can unlock my cell from there, it should be unguarded." Allie crawled through the small passage until she saw some light. She checked the room beyond the grate was clear. Unfortunately for her, it wasn't. Unfortunately for the guard on duty, she was stood directly underneath the grate. She calculated how much force she needed, and then kicked. It landed on the guard's head, knocking her out. She wiggled out of the grate feet first and landed next to her. She murmured an apology and then crossed to the cells.  
'The one on the left must be Khan's,' she thought. The lock was incredibly old fashioned, a lock and key. It struck Allie that she had never actually seen a lock and key before. She thought back to old books that she had read. People always seemed to pick locks using hairpins. Which would be really useful if she had a hairpin. Then she remembered the guard. She moved back to her and knelt down. Before taking one of the guard's hairpins she checked to see if she had a set of keys on her – no use in eliminating the obvious immediately. She didn't have any keys, so Allie slid a pin out of the guard's hair and went back to Khan's cell. After about five minutes of messing around with the pin, attempting to open the door, she heard Khan's voice again.  
"If you wouldn't mind hurrying up, I have actually got other things to do today."  
"I am trying my best!"  
"Are you sure?"  
"For goodness sake, if you would just give me a minute!"

Another few moments past before the lock finally clicked, and Allie pushed open the door. "Ha! Told you I could do it."  
Khan strode out of the cell. On seeing the guard he said, "Has she been dealt with?"  
"Yes," Allie replied. Khan began to walk over to her but quickly positioned herself between them. "You can't kill her," she said, by way of an explanation.  
Khan eyed her with contempt. Contempt towards the guard and Allie herself for stopping him. "This person is a member of Section 31, an organisation that took and both of us, as well as my crew, unjustly."  
"I don't care," she said. "It's not necessary, and you promised."  
They glared at each other, but eventually Khan relented. "Very well." He turned and headed to the back wall. Next to the exit there was a small box fixed to the wall. Khan moved to it and slammed his fist into its side. The front of the box swung open; he'd broken the lock. From the box he took two phasers. Handing one to Allie he said, "Emergency weapons storage. They have them in almost every room. Most of them are more difficult to get into, naturally." She took the phaser gingerly, not taking her eyes off of him. "It's just a precaution, and it's not for you." Then he walked directly to the door. He checked to see if the coast was clear, which it must have been, because he left the room. Allie followed him silently. "it must be after dark. Otherwise we would have encountered somebody by now."  
Allie finally spoke. "Surely there are still people here. They wouldn't leave the building empty, would they?"  
"Of course not," Khan replied in a tone that implied he still thought her rather idiotic. "There will be well trained security officers all over the building – most likely private security rather than Starfleet."  
2And what happens if and when we run into them?" Khan gave her his answer in the form of a sly grin. Allie rolled her eyes, but she didn't bother responding. Without any warning Khan flattened her against the wall as a guard appeared around the corner. With no hesitation Khan fired on the guard, killing him instantly.  
"There could be more of them around here, he said. "Stay close." They began to move again, quicker this time.

After they have been on the move for another ten minutes, travelling up through the building, they came to a transporter room. Khan instantly went to the console and began to programme coordinates.  
"What about your crew?" Allie asked, keeping a lookout while he worked.  
"We will retrieve them momentarily," he replied as the console beeped. Both of them stood on the transporter padd. They materialised on the bridge of a ship. It was vastly different to the _Enterprise _as well as to the ship Allie had been on the last time she had encountered Khan. Nobody had been able to establish how Khan had found that ship, or why it was waiting for him, but it was currently being kept secure by Starfleet. This bridge was smaller. It was designed for a minimal crew, four people maximum would fit on the bridge.  
"And you just happened to have a ship waiting? Again?"  
"No," he replied as he began to operate the console in front of him. ""Like Starfleet itself, Section 31 has a small fleet of ships in orbit of Earth. Few are as large and advanced as a starship."  
"Will you be able to just beam the cryotubes here? There must be some defences, they're not stupid," Allie said, watching Khan work the console.  
"I think that that is a matter of opinion. But yes, there are defences. The hanger is made of the same thing the one on my ship was. Normal transporters cannot penetrate it. However, as I designed the material, I can reprogram this ship's transporter." His fingers flew over the console, and he finished with a mildly flamboyant flick of the wrist. He was showing off. Allie rolled her eyes, and she felt the ship shift, ever so slightly, as the weight of the eighteen cryotubes met the ship's floor. "We must leave now, before they notice that the cryotubes are missing. I'm sure our disappearance will have been noted by now." The second he finished speaking a separate console whistled. The communications section of the bridge. They were being hailed.


End file.
